Pakistan should do more for Kashmir

US President Donald Trump has telephoned Prime Minister Imran Khan and Narendra Modi over the growing tension between Pakistan and India over the occupied-Kashmir issue, urging both leaders to end tensions and make peace. In a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Modi, President Trump said that peace in the region should be maintained; he urged Modi to reduce the tensions between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir issue.

The US president termed the leadership of the two countries as positive after telephonic contacts. On Twitter, Trump said that talks with Pakistani and Indian prime ministers on the Kashmir issue were positive. The US president described Khan and Modi as his friends: “I have talked to my good friends about trade, strategic partnerships and above all, measures to reduce tension in Kashmir.” As the situation in the region is tense, the talks remained positive.

President Trump’s offer for mediation for resolving of the issue of the occupied Kashmir and for peace in the region is welcome. The nation is proud of the way Prime Minister Khan has vigorously presented Kashmir to the world. The international community is expressing concern over unilateral Indian actions, and is taking note of the situation in Kashmir. Many countries in the world have supported Pakistan’s stand and condemned India’s action.

Recently, in a meeting called on the request of Pakistan and the endorsement of our friend China, the issue of Kashmir was discussed by the member states of the Security Council. It is disputed that Kashmir is India’s internal matter; it is an international issue that the two countries cannot settle bilaterally because India has always emphasised on terrorism and war instead of talking about the occupied Kashmir. India has practically imposed war on Pakistan’s border. India is also openly threatening Pakistan with a nuclear war, but it cannot change the facts.

It is the principle of Pakistan that as the sole advocate of Kashmiris, it will continue to present Indian injustice and oppression of Kashmiris on every forum. In a struggle for self-determination, Pakistan stands firm with Kashmiris. Political, diplomatic and moral support of Kashmiris will continue until the dawn of Kashmir’s independence.

Prime Minister Khan also urged the US president to send human rights observers in the occupied Kashmir, and said that Modi’s actions were aimed at ending the internationally recognised issue and to change the Indian population ratio. The majority of Muslims would be converted into a minority in Kashmir.

Sixteen days have passed since the curfew in the occupied Kashmir, and according to reports, thousands of people have been arrested and many are missing. The situation is of great concern. International human rights organisations should be sent to Kashmir so that the situation can be revealed to the world. President Trump should also play his role and urge India to lift the curfew immediately. President Trump can play his part in resolving the dispute.

It is the principle of Pakistan that as the sole advocate of Kashmiris, it will continue to present Indian injustice and oppression of Kashmiris on every forum

If Modi’s claim has any truth, he should invite the US president to visit the occupied Kashmir so that the real facts can be revealed to him. If he does not do so, Pakistan should invite President Trump to visit the Line of Control so that the people of Kashmir can give him the facts. Talking and making appeals on the phone don’t do much. The US president should sit down and talk to the two prime ministers on an emergency basis.

Curfew has continued for fifteen consecutive days in the occupied Kashmir; communication system has been suspended; and landlines, mobile phone and internet services have been suspended in the area for the past two weeks. More than one hundred thousand Indian troops were deployed in the valley. Some schools have opened but markets remain deserted. The people of Kashmir, despite a curfew, have staged strong protests against the illegal occupation of India and the abolition of Article 370.

The situation in the occupied Kashmir is deteriorating rapidly, and there are serious threats to people’s lives. India cut off the occupied Kashmir from the rest of the world just as Israel blocked the oppressed Palestinians in Gaza. There is no accurate information about the atrocities committed on the oppressed people. There has been no contact of the occupied Kashmiri people with the outside world. The deployment of Kashmir has raised fears of a massacre. Global rights organisations and institutions will have to take notice, and global powers will have to intervene to end this situation. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Khawaja Asif, Raja Pervez Ashraf and Hasil Bizenjo attended a meeting of the parliamentary security committee chaired by Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser. Qureshi briefed the committee on the situation in the occupied Kashmir.

The Pakistan army is keeping an eye on the whole situation, and is ready to respond to any aggression in India. If the enemy country tries to do a big adventure, our troops will take a decisive step.

The writer is an Islamabad-based researcher and analyst on Kashmir, Afghanistan and international affairs. He can be reached at haniflodhi29 @gmail.com